naoto fukasawa and jasper morrison design the 2020 collection for maruni

japanese furniture company maruni continues exploring the combination of innovative industrial processes with traditional craftsmanship methods. described as industrialized craftsmanship, this motto represents the production philosophy of maruni, present in every project. for its 2020 collection, the company presents two new collections designed by naoto fukasawa, art director of the company since 2010, and jasper morrison who joined him in 2011.

images by yoneo kawabe, courtesy of maruni

for maruni’s 2020 collection, naoto fukasawa has designed tako — meaning octopus in japanese — consisting of solid wood chairs and tables. the seating objects feature a particular curvature on the backrests and armrests reminiscent of the profile of the eight-limbed mollusk realized through cutting techniques using CNC machines, originally possible only by hand. this technological application has allowed the company to produce the complex shape in mass quantities. made of solid wood, the table reveals all its subtleties — a rectangular top, rounded on the edges has a minimum thickness. the legs are the ones carrying the theme with its appearance resembling the octopus tentacles, giving a delicate movement to the structure.

‘now, there are certain shapes that have become feasible to be created, because of application of highly developed processing techniques of cutting out solid wood, by using a CNC machine,’ comments naoto fukaswa. ‘it was difficult to manufacture a wooden chair by working in all the three dimensions together, for a long time. I wanted to implement a three-dimensional free-form curve into a mass producible wooden chair, but not by using the traditional wood bending techniques. this chair can showcase the shape, which was earlier only possible by handcrafting it piece by piece, in solid wood. a chair that goes well with a glass of wine or a white tablecloth, is something that first came to my mind! the chair has turned out into a form like that of an octopus, so I named it tako. I didn’t intend to actually design an octopus-like shape.’

for his fugu collection, meaning blowfish in japanese, jasper morrison has focused on cleanliness. the series is composed of solid-wood chairs, with the possibility of armrests, owing ample and relaxing seat and backrest crafted to create curved surfaces. comfortable and versatile, the fugu chairs are joined by the essential and compact-sized tables.

‘the fugu lobby chair extends the family from lounge chairs, dining chairs to the table,’ says jasper morrison. ‘the goal has been the same, to achieve a level of comfort with solid wood seat and back so that no upholstery is needed, maintaining the pure lines and the expression of a single material purposefully arranged.’